The boomerang generation earned the name because of the tendency of many of its members to return to live with their parents after a short period of independence or pseudo-independence (that is coming home on weekends with their washing and unpaid bills). They are part of the generation that are now young adults born after 1975.

Their parents already have the mortgage, the cars, the white goods, the furniture, the televisions and stereos as well as the well-stocked pantry so the boomerangers have an expendable income for going out, for gadgets, for holidays and for home entertainment. They also have a good deal of free time for gaming, web-surfing and online socializing while their mothers clean and cook for them.

It is an international phenomena, which has attracted an international vocabulary.

Parasite single

In Japan it is the parasite singles (parasaito shinguru), individuals who live with their parents until well into their thirties to avoid the financial stresses and life demands of adulthood.

Bamboccioni

In 2007 the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance defined the large part of the population who were 20 to 30 years old and still living with their families as bamboccioni (big dummy boys). It created a bit of bad publicity for him.

Twixter

Twixter describes the Americans generation seen as being trapped, betwixt (that is, between) adolescence and adulthood. Sometimes also known as basement dwellers.

NEET

NEET is a mainstream acronym in the UK for young school-leavers that are not engaged in education, employment, or training. They also live at home.

Hotel Mama

In Germany the stay-at-home phenomena is known as Hotel Mama, describing the parents’ house where young adults choose to live with their mothers still undertaking the old-fashioned role of cooking, cleaning and washing.

Hikikomori

But the Japanese have extreme boomerangers, the hikikomori.

Hikikomori translates as “withdrawal” and refers to individuals who become hermits in their rooms for six months or longer with no social life beyond their home.

A BBC report describes a case where a boy took possession of his family’s kitchen and refused to allow anyone else in. He had his meals provided and his own bathroom. The family had to build a new kitchen.

The report also provided an academic appraisal of the condition. Dr Henry Grubb, a psychologist from the University of Maryland who is undertaking a study of the hikikomori:

… there’s nothing like this in the West. If my child was inside that door and I didn’t see him, I’d knock the door down and walk in. Simple.

Which may indicate a broader truth that the root cause of the problem of the boomerangers, parasites, basement dwellers, bamboccioni, twixters, NEETs, Hotel Mamas may not be the young generation themselves but the parents who are not helping their children out to face the world.